In the period of a few years, the food processor has become one of the most popular kitchen appliances. A typical food processor comprises a substantially cylindrical bowl mounted above a drive unit. A tool disc within the bowl has one or more blades, graters, or other food processing elements and an elongated hub or shank which extends downwardly for coupling to the drive unit, permitting the hub and tool disc mounted on the hub to be rotated. A cover on the bowl includes a feed tube through which food items are inserted and pushed down by a food pusher or plunger for processing by the tool disc.
In conventional prior art food processors, each of the tool discs has its own elongated hub. Such discs, as a result, are awkward to store. In order to overcome this problem, there has been developed tool discs having removable hubs. A receptacle for the removable hub is secured to the underside of the tool disc. This receptacle enables a tool disc to be mounted upon and locked to the hub in readiness for using the tool disc and hub in a food processor. The lower end of the elongated hub is coupled to the tool drive of the food processor. A tool disc with a generally crescent-shaped receptacle for mounting upon a removable hub is disclosed and claimed in our co-pending U.S. Pat. application, Ser. No. 274,720, filed June 18, 1981, entitled "Removable Head Rotary Tool for Food Processors", now U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,184 and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. In such removable head tools, each of the tool discs includes a generally crescent-shaped receptacle for mounting upon the upper end of the enlogated hub. Such removable head tool discs are much less awkward and easier to store than conventional discs with their permanently attached long hubs. However, one problem which remains is that many of these tool discs include sharp blades, slicing elements or other sharpened working elements which can injure a person who inadvertently grasps one improperly. Also, random storage in a drawer or on a shelf may permit the sharp working elements to become dulled by abrasion.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a rack for storing such tool discs each in a predetermined orientation. Another object is to provide such a rack wherein the discs are stored in such a manner that they will not be grasped in a manner likely to cause injury. Another object is to provide a rack which protects the working elements of the tool discs. Other objects, features, and advantages will become understood and appreciated from a consideration of the following description including the drawings, and appended claims.